femtosecond

noun

fem·​to·​sec·​ond ˈfem(p)-tə-ˌse-kənd 

-kənt, 

-tō-

: one quadrillionth of a second

Examples of femtosecond in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Instead of using magnets or chemicals that can fade, a very fast laser (called a femtosecond laser) is used to create tiny, permanent marks deep inside the glass. —New Atlas, 21 Feb. 2026

Black cautions there remain questions about how feasible this strategy can prove at scale, as femtosecond lasers are currently expensive. —IEEE Spectrum, 18 Feb. 2026

The challenge isn’t just recording the chaos but also identifying individual particles in a blizzard of debris, then piecing together what happened in the femtoseconds after impact. —Tejasri Gururaj, Interesting Engineering, 29 Jan. 2026

Data is written encoded in an array of data matrices using a 2-D digital micro mirror with up to 2 million elements simultaneously written by femtosecond laser pulses in the UV spectrum with a write speed of 1GB/s and with less than 1W average power. —Thomas Coughlin, Forbes.com, 21 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1976, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for femtosecond

• microsecond
• millisecond
• nanosecond
• picosecond
• beckoned
• reckoned
• second
• seconde